Winter weather death roll rises across US as tornado slams North Carolina

A blast of wintry weather that has dumped snow and ice across the nation’s midsection is being blamed for at least 10 deaths Tuesday as millions of Texans remain without power.  

As temperatures remain below freezing for much of the central U.S., first responders are also racing to find people trapped in homes after a tornado ripped through a town in North Carolina, killing at least three there. 

TORNADO RIPS ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA, KILLING 3, INJURING 10

"It’s something like I have never seen before. A lot of destruction. It’s going to be a long recovery process," Brunswick County Sheriff John Ingram said during a news conference early Tuesday after the tornado hit just after midnight near Grissettown in the Ocean Ridge Plantation Community. 

The tornado destroyed homes, downing powerlines that left thousands without electricity and snapping trees in half, news outlets reported. Authorities say at least 10 have people have been injured and others are trapped in homes.  

TORNADO HITS NORTH CAROLINA

Ingram said searches for missing people were underway and will increase during the day. He asked people to avoid the area while crews work to clear the streets and search for victims. 

Meanwhile, nearly 4 million homes and businesses were without power early Tuesday in Texas, where temperatures dipped into the single digits overnight. 

More than 1 million of those outages were reported in the Houston area, according to Poweroutage.us, a website that tracks disruptions. Elsewhere, more than 300,000 customers are without power in each of the Dallas, San Antonio and Austin areas, it added.

The cold weather currently gripping that region is responsible for at least 10 deaths.

Much of eastern Texas remains under a winter storm warning Tuesday, while other weather advisories are in effect for dozens of counties across Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. The National Weather Service is forecasting "snow accumulations of 2 to 6 inches" with the heaviest amounts northeast of Dallas. 

"Travel could become dangerous. Additional power outages are expected," it said in an advisory. "The cold wind chills could result in hypothermia if precautions are not taken." 

In Houston, a woman and a girl died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning at a home without electricity from a car running in an attached garage, police have said. A 7-year-old boy also involved in that incident was last reported to be in critical condition.

Law enforcement also reported two men were found dead along Houston-area roadways. Causes of death were pending, but officials said the subfreezing temperatures were likely to blame. 

As of Tuesday morning, more than 200 locations along roads in the Houston area are covered with ice and are "not safe for travel," according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

"Late tonight an approaching low pressure system will bring a period of dangerous and destructive freezing rain across the region," the National Weather Service added in an advisory. "Even though some areas may thaw out briefly the potential for refreeze will be high Wednesday night with another cold front bringing subfreezing temperatures back across the region."

The Louisiana Department of Health announced the state’s first storm-related death Monday evening after a 50-year-old Lafayette Parish resident slipped on ice and fatally hit his head on the ground. The victim was not immediately identified. 

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency also reported two weather-related deaths, but did not give details, according to Fox 17.

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In Kentucky, three people died in separate crashes Monday linked to the weather conditions, according to State Police.

The crashes happened on Interstates 24, 64 and 75, investigators say.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.